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Walter Johnson, pioneer in engineering curricula design, dies at 92

Posted April 29, 2005; 07:06 p.m.

by Ruth Stevens

Walter Johnson, who was known for his devotion to teaching and his
pioneering work in engineering curricula design, died April 22. He was
92.

Johnson joined Princeton's electrical engineering faculty in 1937. He
was promoted to full professor in 1948 and served as chair of the
department from 1950 to 1965. He was appointed the Arthur LeGrand Doty
Professor of Electrical Engineering in 1963.

As the field of electrical engineering evolved through the years,
Johnson developed fresh courses to fit the new requirements. He wrote
several textbooks, which were widely accepted and translated into other
languages.

Johnson chaired a committee that spearheaded a post-World War II
modernization of the engineering curriculum. He also was instrumental
in the design of the department's doctoral program, introduced in 1948,
and the initiation in 1958 of the program in teaching and research in
computer science as well as the development of the programs in
engineering physics and in electronic materials and devices. He
transferred to emeritus status in 1982. The Walter Johnson Prize for
Excellence in Teaching, awarded biennially by the Department of
Electrical Engineering, was established in his honor in 1986.

Johnson received the Western Electric Award from the American Society
for Engineering Education in 1967. He was a fellow of the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers, a senior member of the Institute of
Radio Engineers and former chair of its Princeton subsection. He was
elected an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers fellow in
1955 and an IRE fellow in 1962. He became a member of the Sigma Xi
honor society in 1938 and served as president of the Princeton chapter
in 1956-57.

Johnson was born in Weikert, Pa., and earned his B.S.E. and E.E.
degrees from Pennsylvania State University in 1934 and 1942,
respectively. During World War II, he directed a research project for
the Bureau of Naval Ordnance at Princeton that resulted in the
development of the original subcarrier telemetering device used to
determine performance data of supersonic missiles.

Johnson, who had been a resident of Hightstown, is survived by three
sons. A memorial service took place April 27. Donations in his memory
may be made to the Forum Education Award Program, Meadow Lakes, 300
Meadow Lakes, Hightstown, NJ 08520.